Pride is so Hard to Swallow
by VeiledLantern
Summary: 3 days before New Years Eve Shikamaru is assigned on a mission.It would not be troublesome if he is not teamed up with a certain dark green eyed blonde.And they thought it's only a spy mission. How troublesome ShikaTema
1. Chapter 1

The second chapter of Crossing is taking longer than I thought, its taking 14 pages already, I dunno but I'm still on a decision if I'm going to cut it or not, so I did not upload it yet.

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Author's notes:

A ShikaTema story

hookay, i though I could finish this off with a one-shot for my personal greeting of a happy new year to all but it seemed that i was wrong. The story keeps on adding by itself. LOL so, here,i tried to make this fast-paced as i can. This is my opening fic for the opening of the new year. Started making this Dec.31 , New Year's Eve.

About the story:

This happened somewhere in the episode around Gosungkuki, if you people have been there already, where Team 10 is on a mission and Tsunade gets Naruto to tag along because Shino is on another mission with his clan.

About the characters:

Anyway its common news that Shika is soooo lazy, has no motivation and no aspiration. And most of all, an absolute traditionalist. That means he believes that men should lead, not follow. And women should be submitting. Kami, Shika is the most antithesis person I've ever known. And oh, don't blame Temari to interject non too savvy words along the story. I think its in her character. We cannot blame her for growing up being the only girl in the family, plus her sensei and her father's other subjects were mostly male.

On some story alterations and jutsu invention

I'll be inventing jutsus but I'm not going to be specific about it, my kanji dictionary is lost so I don't have any reference. On Shika, I dunno, I'll just let my imagination spark on whatever techniques he'll do, don't kill me for this, kay?

Just for your info: Tori-bird yama-mountain inu-dog

-A Happy and prosperous 2006 to all of you.-

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"Is that so?" A blond, honey-eyed woman crossed her hands with fingernails painted in red in front of her nose with arms reclining on her desk. She racked her brains for possible solutions. He could do this. Who knows what those impressive brains could do more? And besides, no jounins were available the moment, but its okay since Sand is going to send one of their best ninja. And, it wont hurt if she asks for their help. After all, that is what alliances were for.

"Kotetsu"

A figure suddenly appeared in front of her

"Hai, Hokage-sama"

"Find him and bring him here. I have a mission for him."

The bandaged-faced jounin vanished after he stepped back and bowed his head.

Good thing Naruto is not here.

----------------+ooOOoo+-----------------

Pride is so hard to Swallow

By Veiledlantern

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"Trou-ble-someee"

Arms up folded on the back of his neck and looking positively miserable, Shikamaru whined to himself as he walks away from the Academy towards the Hokage Tower. He's being called. Never mind that he is even sick of repeating to himself the phrase, but he cant keep himself feeling bothered about it. Especially disturbing him from his nice cloud watching. The skies were beautiful today. It has the beautiful shade of blue. And the cumulus clouds were so nice to look at. Until he had been given a mission.

But he cant deny the fact that its a bit of a relief being called to a mission rather than his mother ordering him to collect herbs and some spices in their land for her cooking in New Year's Eve. Oh yeah, the next, next day is going to be the New Year's Eve. At least he's away from home and would come back only if the feast were starting. But its still a bother to be called on a mission on a holiday. Shikamaru scrunched his brows.

"Chi... women are so troublesome"

"And its even more troublesome to travel in pure heat" Shikamaru stops his lazy walk and squints his eyes towards the sun thinking about the winterless tropical sun-kissed country he's going to for a while then resumed his walking.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The sun has not risen yet. But for this sandy, sunny country, its already degrees higher that it should be in the normal mornings in other places. The wind is gritty, dry and grainy. Too much for a very early morning.

"So who's Konoha ninja I'm going to the mission with? I would rather team up with another Sand nin, you know" Temari inquired of the Kazekage about her new mission with brows meeting up, arms crossed. She had just came home the other day and now this little boy is ordering her to do some reconnaissance mission with a foreigner. She glared at him. It's okay, anyway. It just so happens that her Kazekage is her very own little brother.

"They did not name a specific person yet but the Hokage said that they would find someone that is suited best in this mission. I and the Hokage had agreed to work together on this mission in which we aim to strengthen the alliance between Suna and Konoha" Gaara replied in his bland tone that matches his perfectly calm face, ignoring his sister's blatant glare at him.

"And dont worry, I have asked that you'll be teamed with someone you had worked with in the past that is Aware of your temper"

Temari raised her brow at the implication of the words of the red haired boy sitting on his desk. She sighed and dropped her left arm at her sides "They're so slow. If they know that this is an important mission they should had chosen the most able candidate ahead of time. And to think that they had to choose this time of the year to do this."

"Its not our place to judge them, Temari. Maybe they're still recovering from the last attack they have from Sound. They have lost a reasonable number of men. Considering of their current shortage of manpower, its not surprising to be attentive of whom they are going to send in every missions."

"Ah, fine then" Temari shrugged off, dropping the discussion. Gaara started to explain the mission in details. She leaned her right arm on her 4 ft. solid metal fan as she listened, not bothering to sit down.

"Our spies had uncovered an stirring from the Grass country. A certain ninja clan there that has a name of Toriyama is rumored to have joined forces with Orochimaru, and the said clan has some little disagreement going on with the Inuzuka. Like the Inuzukas, the Toriyama clan uses particular animals as tool. So there is some little rivalry going on the past few years. There might be more. But I do not want the Inuzukas to learn about this nor take part of this mission because it would only add to the complication of the matter. And good thing Naruto and Kiba is away on a mission with Hinata, saving me the difficulty of the matter. Nara Shikamaru!"

The said boy looked up in attention at the buxom blond they recognize as the Godaime Hokage at the mention of his name.

"You are going with a Sand nin to the Grass country and learn what they know about Orochimaru, and their involvement on his plans. I want you to do something about it. "

Shikamaru nodded.

"Tomorrow you will meet with the Sand nin that is going to work with you, in the crossroad between Suna and Konoha eastward in the direction of the Grass country. And Shikamaru" Tsunade paused. "Come home safe"

Shikamaru merely raised a serious gaze

"Of course, Hokage-sama"

Temari knit her brows in protest after finding out about the mission.

"Its a mission that involves a Konoha nin clan so why should we still give our assistance? Its their own business to attend to"

"But we have been involved in battling with the Sound nonetheless. Considering we have broken the alliance before because of some manipulations and misunderstanding in our part, we still owe them for it." Gaara counted

"Whatever. I'll be going." Shrugging off the conversation. She hefted her fan and hoisted it onto her back and turned around to leave until she felt those pale green, black-rimmed eyes staring. She stopped on her steps to encourage the young Kazekage to speak up.

"Temari...Be careful"

That and she feels the dismissing nod on her back. She smiled. Nobody had thought that her little brother would ever feel any emotion of some sort aside from negative ones and something that borders to insanity. Eversince the Orochimaru incident, and his battle with Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara had shown more humanity in him, much to everyone's surprise. His absolute change and the things he do for the Suna Country had everybody acknowledge him and trust him. Afterall, he is Suna's ultimate weapon. She nodded and resumed her walking out of the office.

Time to pack again. It would take a whole day and night to arrive to the crossroads.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The next day…..

_/Shikamaru, come home safe/ _

He grimaced. _/Taku, Of course, I will, why shouldn't I/ _

Shikamaru slowed his pace, remembering his first mission as a Chuunin. This time, he's not going to let his comrades got hurt. He's going to make sure of that. And he's not going to be defended by a woman again

"Oe you! are you going to stand there and daydream forever?"


	2. Chapter 2

Kami-sama, this story is more than halfway but I've just recently uploaded. Oh well.

A ShikaTema story

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Pride is so hard to Swallow II

By Veiledlantern

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"Oe you! are you going to stand there and daydream forever"

Shikamaru nearly fell flat on the floor with his face.

"Tch, its you. So you're the Suna nin that I'm going to work with?"

"So what if? You're going to pull off that man-woman thing on me again?" Temari walked forward to meet Shikamaru with a playful, teasing glint in her eyes.

/Suited best for the mission? Hah! Is Konoha that really short on manpower/ Temari put a hand on her hips and sighed in frustration. No wonder Gaara didnt tell her about it because she would have to ask Kankurou to do the mission instead. They eyed each other for a while.

He snorted. "How troublesome"

She raised her brows in amusement. Not that she really minded anyway. The last mission with him went well, when she helped him defeating one of the Sound Four. She smiled deviously. And its quite thrilling seeing his pride trampled like that.

Shikamaru merely looked at the woman beside him, eyeing her with beads of perspiration on his face _/Scary.../_

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Its been half of the day already, since they met on the crossroad. Both were not that much of a talker anyway, so its generally silent on the whole travel, except from some comments and attempts on conversation from Temari. Shikamaru is too lazy to speak, complaining about almost everything, even how bothersome it is to talk, though he throws off occasional replies on some of Temari's jabber. And besides, its going to be more troublesome when she got pissed of.

"So do you have any ideas of what are we going to do first?" Temari turns to her right to face Shikamaru jumping on the tree alongside with her.

"You're also good on tactics, why would you ask my opinion first even though you have something in your mind already?"

"Oh, come on. Don't make this hard for the both of us. Just think of what we are going to do"

Shikamaru sighed. He knows that the blond Sand kunoichi is good on this herself, but why would she bother to make him think about it?

_/Its not that I'm relying on a woman, but she's also a ninja and an intelligent one for that, why should I waste my time thinking while knowing that she would eventually force me to her decision anyway. And I don't want to argue with her. Its too troublesome. /_ Yes, he acknowledges her skill and wit. But of course he never plans of telling her. It would just admit defeat and surrender in his part. He looked at her sideways before forcing himself to speak again.

"Stay at my back as we travel, most likely I will be the one who's going to be attacked first. You could hit at a long distance so if we would encounter any rogue nin, you are ready to do the offensive. I'll be keeping an eye as the front man, and I'll apprehend any on-behind attacks by my Kagemane no Jutsu. When we arrive, well let's stay at the village to snoop around, maybe we could find more information than we have on the thing. And since it's the end of the year, they might be quite busy with the occasion. People would crowd outside. We could use that time to sneak in, pretend as tourists, and spy for information. Lets just discuss the details when we arrive at the town"

To his surprise, Temari merely nodded on his plan, never bothering to slow down. Maybe he don't know much of her to predict her actions.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

-Sugoi-

That was all Temari had in mind when she saw the bright colored designs and the multi colored lights and lanterns lit with dancing lights from the remnants of Christmas not removed to extend the holidays till New Year. In Suna, families don't bother much on hanging out bright lights and decorations and such on holidays such as this. It would just be destroyed by the sandstorm. People here surely knows how to enjoy themselves on special occasions.

Shikamaru is struck as well. He expected this village to be enthusiastic on celebrating holidays. He had learned of it from gathering information before going to the mission. He noted the big lanterns and lots of blinking lights on almost every window. And the blatant noise of music from random house flooding the streets.

_/Much too enthusiastic I suppose/ _of course Konoha bothers to decorate in the holidays too, but not as flamboyant as this. In Konoha, they set up fanfares for the occasion, booths, and traditional dresses. Now that he notices it, he thinks he doesn't want to know what would happen on New Year's Eve tomorrow. Especially when they were doing the mission at the very time the streets would explode in arrays of light and noises.

The pair walked to the fancy and well decorated street, with their heads turning from either side, taking in their eyes the gaiety of the surroundings. But Shikamaru also noticed the dark figure on his far left before it quickly dissolved in the alleyway. He pretended to see nothing and just continue his walking beside Temari.

Earlier on, they had removed their hitai-ate and had tucked their weapons inside their traveling bags to avoid attention so that they could easily blend with civilians. Well, on Temari's case, they wrapped her fan in a cloth in a way that she's just carrying a musical instrument. It wont hurt being careful. But still its too much to act as a couple. So they agreed they wont.

Shikamaru sighed. Its getting more boring and pointless, choosing a hotel to stay. They should have go in the nearest one. He glanced at Temari sensing that she had made up her mind on which place to stay. He followed her to the reception desk.

"Welcome to Mandarin Hotel sir, how may I help you?" The lady on the table greeted the pair in sweet, accommodating voice.

"Just give us two rooms please" Shikamaru simply asked. He's already eyeing the hallway.

"Ara? two rooms? You don't want to room with your girlfriend?" That came out wrong, the girl gasped. The two looked at her with guarded expression. She quickly grinned an apology,

_/It seems that they haven't been together yet, but I sense electricity in them. They sure make an interesting couple/_

She wrote something on her pad and gave them the keys.

-

-

"Maa... what a troublesome thing"

"Would you stop saying that for even half a day? It would spare me great deal if you would just stop complaining for a while"

Temari grimacing flopped herself on the bed. Both of them didn't appreciate the way the girl at the reception assumed them to be. And besides, it's not her place to meddle. AND its not like that they're being defensive and all...

They have decided to continue planning in Temari's room. Shikamaru is currently sitting on the wooden chain with his back on the window. Seated with the chair facing him, his arms resting on the head of the wooden support.

Shikamaru sighed and rest his chins on the head of the chair's back support then lifted his left arm to scratch his head.

"Che, how troublesome. The information we've got is not satisfying at all. Nobody even pointed as to where does the clan lives."

Shikamaru stopped whining when he felt the reprimanding burning glare Temari on him of and faced the opposite wall. He immediately shifted to the more practical conversation.

"We had finished investigating around, and its past dinner. The travel had consumed most of our time, and we haven't eaten yet." Shikamaru laid down their current disposition in a matter of fact way.

"But we since still have time spent in the night, after our dinner I will go out and have a look out. We have gathered a little information earlier plus the information that our Kages had given. Ideally, we should finish this tomorrow and return by the next day."

Temari merely listen to Shikamaru laying down their plans, half-listening to what he's saying. Its not that she's going to eagerly submit to that guy. Its because something about this is mission is bothering her. It has a feeling that there is something amiss, she just can't point what it is.

But suddenly, Shikamaru stopped speaking and stood up abruptly, his face passive. Temari looked up. He approached the door and started opening it up.

"Hoy Shikamaru! what do you think you are doing! You're not planning to do this alone yourself aren't you?" She stood up.

Shikamaru sighed a long suffering sigh. "Im going to eat dinner. Are you coming or not?"

"Hmph" Temari make a face, but followed Shikamaru outside anyway.

It was seconds after that a bird flew out of its perch from the window.

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The somberness of night is intensified by the lack of lighting in the room. A man is seated on a cushion on the center of the room with two people seating a little farther on the back to his left. The lighting increased only when the door slide open to allow the wan moonlight stream inside. 2 people entered and bowed at their Lord.

"Houkei-sama, we had discovered that there are people looking for information about us"

"Who could it be then? An Inuzuka hopefully?" The man on the left inquired.

"I don't know Oshio-sama. But from the looks of them, it seems like they are ninjas.

"Ho….? Is Konoha is starting to be on our tail? It seems that they are trying to learn some information about our plans." A seedy man on the right shrewdly replied.

"So, they have not discovered our plan yet. Hmm…." Houkei, the head of the Toriyama family scratch his chin in thought. "But it would have been better if they sent an Inuzuka here. It would be easy to spark uneasiness between villages if we have managed to kill one."

Houkei-sama continued "But these little pests does not need any attention. How many are they, Kintaro?"

"Two. A boy and a girl. Both on teenage years." The man in question replied

The seedy man, Takamura chuckled at that. "Brats? the Hokage sent for brats? Much less restrain an Inuzuka to come here? Is she insulting the strength of our clan?"

"We have to show them that the wings of the Toriyama should not be taken lightly then. Morita! Shiro! Kumaki!" Three figures slipped inside the room to appear in front of their Lord stooping down.

"Bring the spies here, alive. I have some questions waiting for them

------------------------------------

The food was good.

Yes its good, she's almost surprised because it is so. Different quality and different palate of taste from what she's used on eating but nonetheless, good. She reached out for more eggplant. She never thought that adding cheese, tomato sauce and ground beef in an eggplant would taste awfully delectable like this. Then she added it at the colored rice... what's it called? and continue to eat.

Shikamaru observe Temari's continuous attack at the eggplant, a delicacy of who knows what name is. Its too troublesome to know anyway. As long as the food is good he don't bother learning what kind of food it is. He had noticed is that she eats like a moderate male ninja. And she doesn't look like a stick like the other girls do thinking that it looks sexy

and could impress every guy in their bodice.

_/AND, this is absolutely NOT a date, how much good the celebrating air might be, regardless we were a boy and a girl eating together in a restaurant, and WHAT AM I THINKING! This guy is absolutely not my type, is a great sexist, and he has not even half the looks the Uchiha had except he has a very impressive intelligence./ _Temari studied the guy in front of her. He's wearing a pair of silver earring. Well, at least the earrings don't look that bad. Has pointy, brown hair, scrawny, and always wearing that intense eyes of his that could be bored, annoyed, serious or laid-back.

/But he's a nice guy, nonetheless/ And she agreed on that thought

Meanwhile, Shikamaru is having a private war on himself trying not to show that he's being fazed by Temari's study of him. He tried to concentrate on the matters at hand. With his weapon, a spoon and a fork, he continues his life or death mission. On eating.

/Taku, she's being weird again. Didn't she know that is bothersome for me? Naruto is a better companion in eating than her, even though he does not have manners and won't shut up, at least he's not being weird and has that crazy mood like this girl."/ And that reminded him of his mother in which he involuntary shuddered.

/Girls are so troublesome indeed./ He prepared to stand up

"Hey, where are you going? I'm still finishing my meal And you haven't finished yours yet!" Temari pointed at his plate that have at least a quarter of rice on it still and shoot a glare at the standing Chuunin.

"We dont have all day eating and I have no time waiting for you forever, why do girls took time in eating anyway"?"

/And besides/ he added in his thought /I don't want to be full when doing the mission. I have to do this alone tonight. I can't risk the secrecy of the mission. Plus, I have no chance to tell her, they're almost everywhere. And, If I'm going to tell her that I'll be spying tonight she'll insist of coming with me. So its better that I'm going to speak about it. Ma...girls are so troublesome. They should have paired me up with Chouji instead. Too bad he's on another mission with his clan./

Then Shikamaru say out loud "But at least you're not bad yourself because you don't eat like a kitten like Ino and the other girls do. So, I'll be going. You should to. Thanks for the food." Shikamaru signaled on a waiter, leaned and placed the bill on the table and languidly walked away.

Temari snorted and took a few spoonfuls before leaving. She dont know of which she is going to be affected. That side compliment or Shikamaru leaving her here and paying the whole bill himself, giving her the I'm-the-man-I-should-do-everything stuff again.

It was a while before she realized that he planned on doing the snooping tonight all by himself. She almost missed it when he said earlier that he's going to be snooping around. Then she remembered his farewell with matching eye signal. He had meant for her to go back to the apartment.

'I'll be going. You should too.'

/Chikuso.../

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hitai-ate-head protector for ninjas, although it was being wear on places favored by individual ninjas like on the throat, or waist or arm.It also signifies that they are ninja and from which village they came from.

taku-a shortened form of mattaku, its some sort of sound of exasperation like 'oh come on' or 'hay naku...' (teehee)

About the food, its a Mediterranean delicacy. Konoha is more Japanese in nature so expect the meal to be alien to our greatest slacker. I think they eat differently in Suna too. Their delicacy is more like middle eastern (Saudi Arabia and the like) and I think eggplants does not exist in desert.

sugoi-great, cool, etc.


	3. Chapter 3

_Naruto owned by Masashi Kishimoto-san. _

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_Author's notes:_

I really dont understand why should they pair Shikamaru with Ino because the author clearly states in his episodes that its Temari. And besides, Shikamaru doesnt like Ino. If you're watching the episodes you'll see in the way they act towards each other. If you're reading the manga, Shika and Temari have another mission together. IMO, Temari is the only girl that could make it past Shikamaru's beliefs.If Kishimoto-san would make a canon pairing, I think it is them.

Kami-sama, i enjoy doing this episode, especially on Shikamaru's bad acting and the men buying it, eheh.

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_

* * *

_

_It was a while before she realized that he planned on doing the snooping tonight all by himself. She almost missed it when he said earlier that he's going to be snooping around. Then she remembered his farewell with matching eye signal. He had meant for her to go back to the apartment._

_'I'll be going. You should too.'_

_/Chikuso.../_

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Pride is so hard to Swallow III

By Veiledlantern

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And right now, Temari being the patient person that she claims to be, hereby declared that she's pissed as hell. 

_/That guy. And what the hell is that attitude? I'm not a china porcelain damnit. I'm Temari of Suna, not just any other Kunoichi for crying out loud. And why the hell did I not protest about it anyway? I'm not going to submit to that guy/_ She continued marching outside the noisy street, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

_/I don't care about his damn intention, or his being gentlemanly and all. God, I can't even consider him as a gentleman. Right now, we're a team, and I should also do my part, not sitting on the room waiting for him to come back like some stupid housewife./_

_/Hmph, lets see how he would react if I've been able to save his ass again/ _Temari's dark green eyes sparkled with vengeance with a matching smirk.

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Shikamaru immediately flattened himself on the wall and mask his chakra as much as he could. He's on a dark alley now. This is where the one that he sensed darted around here. He shouldn't be surprised that its similar to the chakra he felt earlier when they were at the room. He looked around and calculated the surroundings. Its too dark now.

_/It would be more obvious if the two of us are going. I hope that she understood the message. And its twice as dangerous because they had been able to spy at us earlier. Knowing that the Toriyama clan uses animals as tool, I could expect them to use animal attacks similar to Kiba./_

Then he felt a kunai whizzing through his genjutsu

/Kuso/ he jumped back and released the illusion.

"Iyaa, so look at what the rat brought here"

"Keh. As I expected. A trap. Don't you have anything better than this?" Shikamaru smirks tiredly at the 3 men that appeared behind him.

3 Men stood on his back. He cannot see them but he sees their shadow reflected on his line of vision. He's facing the dark alley, and the brightly lit streets behind them gives of a nice light.

"You talk big for a kid, brat. I thought Konoha would not be stupid as to send some scrawny kid like you. But it seems disappointing. And you're not even an Inuzuka, how can we enjoy making fun of you and be vitamins for our ravens?"

"Tch. And what makes you think that I'm from Konoha?" Shikamaru smirks. The men eyed him warily.

"And where is your shapely blond companion?" Another man added, leering. Then they all laughed. Shikamaru glared at the trash bin in front of him.

"So obviously you're one of the Toriyama clan"

One of the three raised their brows. "Why do you care about it?" The boy turned around to face them travel his gaze from one other to next in a calculating smirk.

"Hah, I bet the Inuzuka clan of Konoha I stronger than you!"

"How dare you insult the power of our clan? Our power over birds is non comparable to those dog tricks the Inuzukas teach their puppies!"

"Is that so?" Seeing that the Shinobis baited on his poor acting Shikamaru continue his teasing

"You call this stronger? Crying while running to a certain snake guy just because those so-called puppies kicked your poor shins?"

"Bakero! We did NOT ask help! In fact, it is our assistance that is being asked for backup and espionage and handling over the leader of Konoha's Inuzuka is just a consolation prize!" The black haired man named Morita proudly replied. Shikamaru smirked inwardly.

"And besides, Oshio-sama is tired of Houkei-sama's whims, it will end when Orochimaru-sama would overcome Konoha thus eliminating our rival then our clan is going to be famous!"

_/It seems that the situation is much more complicated than we thought. How troublesome. Now I'm stuck here doing mission while everybody celebrates New Year./ _Shikamaru inwardly groaned all years worth of pain. What a troublesome mission. He groaned again

"Ah! Poor Oshio-sama, is your leader that eccentric that they forget their kawaii subordinates?" Shikamaru breathes his excessive undying sympathy on them.

The three men burst into tears, the skinny man wailed loudly while the gruff, chiseled man Morita step forward raised his palm on Shikamaru.

"Houkei-sama… Houkei-sama had forgotten us, he only focuses on getting revenge on the death of his first born that was killed by a heartless Inuzuka while Oshio-sama cares about the clan and wants us to be stronger and well-known throughout the Grass. So he deserves it that he does not know our affiliation to Orochimaru-sama! He'll soon loose his position to Oshio-sama as the Family Head"

The pale, skinny man nodded emphatically. The burly, dirty blond chinky man on his left sniffed and rubs his nose on his sleeve while nodding at the same time.

Shikamaru gasped deeply and dramatically. He almost coughed because of it.

"How tragic!" Shikamaru covers his face with his arms in act of covering unshed tears to hide the fact that he's actually rolling is eyes out of its socket. "Take me with you, I am touched by your heroism. Together we could make our dreams came true, and lets take on the path of light as one!"

"Ooo!" They shouted in chorus. The three men raised their fist in the air. A rooster jumped in fear from a nearby wagon

Shikamaru is stays on his position and waited. One of the men then started to blindfold him. Then the said man distanced himself a little bit then the other started to form seal in his hands.

A flock of white birds, with the size of pigeons flew from him surrounding the Konoha nin, as the rest surround the other three ninja too. Some kind of a teleport jutsu. Then suddenly, A the familiar gust of wind suddenly surrounded the alleyway that distracted them and two black marbles bounded on the floor that suddenly exploded to purple smoke. The men looked at Shikamaru's form covered with birds. The one who did the justu tried to teleport the boy but the formation of the birds were destroyed when something black was oozing out and immediately withdrew. It was a shadow bunshin. The black that oozed out runs out on the road and ended up in some place in the alley in a thin, pony tailed boy's foot, leaning lazily on the wall, with hands tucked on pockets.

The purple smoke is continuously filling up the area. Shikamaru then felt the wind going against him when an arm dragged him up a large metal fan cradled by the wind. They floated upwards and both passenger jumped on the nearby roof and started to run and jump away.

But its not finished yet. Almost a minute after, three big birds with passenger each darted from the violet clouds, chasing the running ninjas.

"They're fast."

"Yeah I know" Temari smirked. "It would be seconds by now.

"What do you mean by that? If they're going to continue on that speed, they could easily swoop our heads off." Shikamaru observed, breath quite ragged from jumping and running.

Then approximately 5 seconds later, one of the man starts coughing. Then the other, and then the last. Unable to concentrate more, their jutsus dispelled, 3 poofs were heard followed by 3 thumps of body hitting the roof, then slid down.

The two decreased their speed. Shikamaru looks at Temari. The girl just smiled

"Kankuro" she said, still smiling, making Shikamaru had the idea that those bombs were poisoned, coming from her elder brother.

Seeing that they were safer now than before, they settled on walking on the streets towards their apartment. As they walked together, Temari keeps on harassing the silent Shikamaru, who is presently walking with a frown fixed on his face and arms folded up in his head, settling on his lazy steps, now that they were both safe

"Taku! So you're planning this all along, aren't you? Fixing me off with those stupid words of yours that goaded me to look for you. I thought you don't want to be rescued by a woman?" Shikamaru's ears twitched at that but said nothing. "And you didn't even tell me one bit of it when we were at the hotel. Then you left me all alone in the restaurant without even sharing you're plan. I could have helped. Good thing I have some skill in tracking. If I had not appeared right then and there…"

"If you did not appear right then and there I should have been able to uncover more information and infiltrate their headquarters without a bother." Shikamaru's lazy yet firm tone cuts Temari's incessant talking. Its starting to rub him off, not to mention that she almost ruined his plan. "I didn't tell you anything because they are spying at us."

"I know, I get the point. But when did I learn about you're plan? When you left. You should have given me some more explanation or some clues. Why? Are you afraid that I'm going to make a mess and spill?"

Shikamaru pointedly looked away.

Temari's eyes intensified as she turns her face on him.

"You just don't trust me" It's a statement more than a question

A long, deafening painful silence occurred. Amidst of the cheerful air the street is emitting, the coldness between two warm and alive persons walking no less that 2 feet from each other seemingly increased.

"We're supposed to be teammates" It let out on almost a whisper from Shikamaru's left. Of course Temari is hurt. But she does not want it to show. Much. So she kept silent. And besides, they're on a mission. She's above tantrums and lashings.

He lowered his hands to his sides and let his shoulders droop a bit. That hit him. It's just that his damn pride is kicking the part of him that tells him to cooperate with the Sand Kunoichi. That's a stupid act because being teammates requires both to work together. If Azuma is here, he's been scolding him already. Aside from some conflicting emotions inside, he managed to keep himself composed and calm.

_/Oyaji, you don't know how much I hate dealing with women./_

He closed his eyes and opened them again.

"Well, thank you for saving me a little while ago…"

"A…aa." Temari nodded. That was close to apology. She does not have a choice but accept it. This mission wont work if they were not in good terms.

Shikamaru observe Temari's reactions. And he's mildly impressed on her maturity and how well she manages her emotions unlike other women do. Well, he only has a few women to compare to her anyway. One of them was Ino.

And Ino would probably be yelling at him at her wits right now, abusing his poor eardrums. Which is troublesome and irritating at the same time.

They are on the opening of the hotel now. Temari sighed deeply then faces Shikamaru, her faces traces none of the bitter note she held before.

"So, what's the plan?"

Shikamaru smirks.

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hitai-ate-head protector for ninjas, although it was being wear on places favored by individual ninjas like on the throat, or waist or arm.It also signifies that they are ninja and from which village they came from.

taku-a shortened form of mattaku, its some sort of sound of exasperation like 'oh come on' or 'hay naku...' (teehee)

Oyaji-old man, a more informal (and almost non-respectful) term for father

bakero-a curse call, i think its more deeper than stupid.


	4. Chapter 4

_Naruto owned by Masashi Kishimoto-san._

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Chapter IV

Pride is so hard to Swallow

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A/n 

In case you notice weird sentence forms, its because I'm making it close to the original Naruto as much as possible. Like giving close translations as I can cuz when I'm doing it, I'm imagining them speaking Japanese, thus giving it the feel of being in the actual episode itself.

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"You let you're ass kicked by some TEENAGERS?" Misha, the twenty-two year old youngest son of the Head of the Family almost choked on his maki.

"Forgive us for our folly, Young Master. The guy is willing to be taken to our place. Its just that we did not expect the girl to attack at us that moment."

Misha rolled his chocolate eyes at that. "Well, I think its just funny for me but don't expect my father and his advisors to take it lightly, especially Takamura sensei. He's kinda strict on maintaining the clan's dignity. They're on the other room, talking. It's late in the evening, hurry up and report to the elders, before they sleep." Misha finished the remaining of his night snack then stand up and smoothen up his Yukata then go out to the porch to think.

_/I say they are Konoha ninja, even though the men did not see any physical indications to that. Too bad they have not been able to bring them here. I would like to see the young man's technique myself. And based on the report, the girl looks really strong. They say that the boy belonged to another clan, not an Inuzuka./ _

Misha sat down beside the koi pond and looked at the sky.

_/I just hope Father would just stop sour graping and just talk to our Konoha counterparts. I do not really approve on this alliance agreement from a Shinobi village from the Water Country. The past is past, I don't know why they keep on insisting on helping those on his plans just so he can help with the destruction of the Inuzukas. We're cant rise up the dead by doing revenge… / _He thought bitterly then paused on his thinking and snaps his eye in attention then when he realized something

_/Come to think of it, Otou-sama's right hand man and Takamura-sensei did not specified which Shinobi village are we allying with. And the emissary only talks with Oshio-sama, and we don't even know what are they talking about, Oshio-sama would only gather us and lay down information. And why would they keep it a secret if they are not hiding them? Could it be… Masaka…/_

His gaze is being directed at the meeting inside. He stands up from his position then hesitated. He's not going to join them. They would just overrule him, being young and the youngest. And if it really is something more than an alliance from another Shinobi group there is some plan going on. And right now he's not in the mood for another debate.

As if on cue, a loud voice was overheard inside the house.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

The youngest of the three, a pale, skinny maroon haired man named Shiro cowered in front of their raging leader.

"Forgive us, Oshio-sama. It just proved that the brats are a tricky pair, we have been able to bring to you the boy but the girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took him." The biggest of them, Kumaki explainded

Unknown to Misha, his fathers had already retired to his own room the time the three had arrived. It was because of the convincing of Takamura-sensei whom he respected. Unbeknownst to the latter, they had decided that they would take the matters at their own hands. Because it seems that the spies knows about their involvement to Orochimaru.

"How dare you fail a simple mission, and against kids even! You should mend your mistakes, the three of you, we do not want them to report what they have learned, come morning." The balding head of Takamura gleamed yellow against the candlelight that danced around the room.

"Yes Takamura-sama, and once again, we are sorry."

"I want their heads to be delivered to me in the morning." Oshio ordered the three.

"Demo, the pony tailed boy is not that bad, actually, and we are not really sure that he is from Konoha. He even wants to work with us and is willing to help us in our condition. The witch had just snatched him away from us, she is the one that should be killed."

_/Witch/ _Oshio raised his right brow at the choice of words of the pale red-headed young man.

Morita's eyes went wide the moment Shiro started to babble defending the brunette thinner and smaller than him that they had just poured their heart to. Hearing his reasoning, he then added his thoughts.

"Yes, Kai-sho, let's just try it. We could put a jutsu in him so he's under our command then we could turn the tables and turn their spies against them instead. We still have no proof if he came from Konoha or not. But he could be of some use." Morita amended.

Oshio was silent for a moment before bringing up his head speaking up. "Very well then, that would be your mission. Bring those two ninja to me before mid-afternoon tomorrow and we would give them appropriate punishment."

"I will advice Houkei tomorrow of what he should only know. Do not speak anything until I debriefed him. Till then, be careful on the information that you are going to give. You can go now." Takamura slowly stand up on his seat, and Shiro immediately jumped up to assist the old man. He then clutched his stick and walked away from them to the other entrance that goes deep into the large house.

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"Is this it?"

Three dark figures crouched on a branch on a nearby tree from the back of the hotel. Three sets of eyes look at the closed window across the tree. The leaves obstruct the light coming out of the pale moon giving them more covert position.

"Kintaro-kun says that they are staying here" replied Shiro

"Shiro, Kumaki you go and capture the two. I'll be on the backup and would ready the genjutsu the moment they engage fighting with you."

"Hai" The two replied in unison then disappeared in a gust of the wind like a fast ninja could. Morita let the two have a several seconds lead before charging towards the window.

An unnatural wind break the windows open of the half-lit room and there appeared at the center of the room the two Toriyama shinobi. Both crouched, ready for fighting and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And realized the room is empty.

Morita is approaching the said window and almost lost his footing when he heard Kumaki scream.

"KUSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

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Shikamaru heavily sighed once more, annoyed.

"Like I told you I'll just sit here in the far side of the room and watch. I'm not going to peep on you or lie beside you in bed. And I'm not the one for pranks, it's too troublesome to do one."

"Just don't go nearer ok? Us sleeping in the same room do NOT mean anything"

Shikamaru grunted looked at her with bored eyes. He's getting tired of this argument already. And talking. But still, mission first. Troublesome.

"As if I care, Wake up after 4 hours, you'll be relieving my position, ok? We might think that this would be the least of the place that they were going to look for, we still have to be careful."

"Aa" Temari agreed then cover herself with blanket and faced her back on him. It's not that she doesn't like someone being there when she's sleeping, and on the same room even. Its just that it is Shikamaru…

Temari's eyes widened a bit then blushed on her train of though.

_/Where did that come from? And when did it started to get uncomfortable sleeping on the same room with Shikamaru? Could it be…/_

Temari shoot out from her lying position.

_/Shimatta/ _She screamed in her head as the realization hit her to the core.

"Oe, onna, you should get some sleep, its going to be your watch later, it would be troublesome if you're not up to the fight tomorrow."

Temari almost jumped out of the bed, she had nearly forgotten that the very person that she is thinking of is just 'some' feet away from her bed.

She turned her head to him sharply and gave her best glare at him. Shikamaru stared at her for a moment then sweatdropped and started to remove his Chuunin vest while walking towards her.

"O-oe! What are you doing? Don't go nearer!" With a light blush dusting her cheeks, she backs away inch and inch and grabbed her fan that was lying above her pillow and hugged it tightly. "Or I'll use some ninpou on you!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes on that and ignore Temari's protests, continuing his march towards her. He had finished removing his vest the time that he's near the bed. He looked at her once again, not noticing her colored cheeks. Temari keep scooting away to the other edge, seemingly alarmed on something.

_/What a bother…/_

Seeing that there is enough space on his side for his wiry self, he lay down on it without a word with his back on her. Caught off guard, Temari let out a little yip and jumped up a bit. Shikamaru grumbles without facing her but loud enough to hear his voice.

"Look baka, I'm also tired If you want to fuss about it and don't want to sleep then take the first watch instead, its so troublesome dealing with and I don't want to repeat myself or argue with you. Oyasumi."

She stared down at the still form on the bed with her. Temari's heart slow down a bit and gasped when she realized that her bare knees were touching Shikamaru's back, then immediately took it away.

Several heartbeats passed then Temari is so sure she heard Shikamaru silently mutter.

"Women are really troublesome."

She recovered her wits when she catches that insult then hit the stupid guy's head and stomped away from the bed.

"What is that for? Now that I'm getting some sleep." Shikamaru complained, rubbing his poor head.

Still pissed, Temari merely glared but refused to answer. She position herself to the window and lean on the sill, looking over what their view has to offer.

"Che, as if I did anything wrong anyway, and why would you lose your temper on me just because I'm getting some sleep? mattaku" He shifted his position, laying on his back then stared at the ceiling.

_/And why am I bothering to question her when its too troublesome to do so? Its very unlike me to do it anyway. Che, how troublesome./ _Shikamaru's brows meet again. Then sometime later, decided to close his eyes.

Temari ignore the boy's complaints because that's not what really makes her mad. She's actually annoyed at herself for not noticing. This. This… this something. She's supposed to be infatuated with Uchiha Sasuke or with one of their own ANBU in Suna who's actually good-looking when she spotted him without a mask one time.

/_And when did I start to like this stupid guy, anyway/_

She recalled her first meeting with him, their first argument, when he cried for his comrades with mixtures of relief and regret, of how she's challenged and really enjoying taking out some efforts or conversation from the guy who's virtually lazy to do anything. Even if it's a lazy grunt or a sigh with some rolling of eyes. She then recalled what he had done a while ago.

_/But he's not the one to lose someone just because of that bad vice of his. Actually, he's kinda sweet and protective on his own way/_

She placed a fond gaze at the form lying on the bed. She smiled and let out a little snort when she noticed his position. Lazy even when sleeping.

Suddenly, her left eye twitched.

_/NANI? What am I doing/_

Flabbergasted, she immediately grimaced when she noticed that she's having some tender thoughts about that stupid lazy ninja.

_/Argh! How could I? How could I think that way about him! Stupid bed and stupid room giving me these stupid thoughts./ _She fumed and looked away.

This is going to be one long annoying night.

Or midmorning.

_/Kuso…/ _she sighed.

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onna-woman

masaka-impossible/it cant be

nani-what

shimatta-a cursed word that usually implies that something has been messed up. Could also mean 'damn'.

Kai-sho-captain/squad leader.


End file.
